Thionyl fluoride

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Ball-and-stick model of the thionyl fluoride molecule

Thionyl fluoride, SOF₂, is a compound of sulfur with oxygen and fluorine; it can be produced by the reaction of thionyl chloride with many metal fluorides or with hydrogen fluoride. As would be expected from an acyl halide, it reacts with water giving hydrogen fluoride and sulphur dioxide, and with alcohols to replace the -OH group with a -F.

It is also produced as a breakdown product of sulphur hexafluoride in the presence of electrical discharges and air; since sulphur hexafluoride is commonly used as an insulator in high-power transformers, this is probably the major accidental source of SOF₂. It smells rather like hydrogen sulphide [1].

Melting point is −130 °C; boiling point is −41 °C. The angle S-F-S is between 90 and 109.5 degrees